Catch Me
by Jinxy xxx
Summary: Sakura is in the sea when she is killed by a hollow. Miraculously her soul is saved by a boy with white hair and turquoise eyes. She immediatly begins to feel something more for her saviour than gratitude as she looks into those eyes but... •please reveiw
1. Chapter 1

I remember everything that day. I remember how it felt. To die. To start again.

•••

It was the middle of a warm spring day. I was in the ocean, just out of the flags. At least, I thought I was just out. What happened next changed my life forever, or rather, my afterlife.

I felt myself being dragged under the surface. I felt serrated teeth tearing at my limbs. I felt pain. All I saw was water filled with my blood and I felt it fill my lungs. My mind went black a moment, then there was a tug at my chest pulling me back. I opened my eyes to see a foot of chain connected to my collar bone. The chain had obviously been broken so I tried to look around me, but all I saw was ocean and a huge splotch of blood... And a body exactly like mine drifting wide eyed under the waves, the other end of my chain trailing after it.

Then something grasped at my ankle and pulled me out of the water. My attention was alley concentrated on a huge white mask and gaping mouth coming towards me. A flash of blue white light and the masked creature disintegrated, and then strong arms caught me, clamping down my flailing limbs.

"It's okay, it's okay. You're safe, I've got you." His voice instantly calmed me and I sucked in a deep breath.

"... W-w-who _are_ you?" I stuttered.

"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of Squad 10 of the 13 Court Guard Squads."

I opened my eyes to look at my saviour -which was a big mistake because as soon as I looked at his face I was lost in eyes of liquid turquoise. I took another big breath and I felt him do the same. Then I noticed the hilt of a sword behind his shoulder.

"Holy crap! Is that hat I think it is!" I yelled and began to panic. Was he just another one out to get me? He didn't seem scary and he had said I was safe but still...

"Stop! You're releasing to much spiritual pressure! You'll attract more hollows!" He said in a slightly impatient voice.

"What are you talking about? And why are you wearing that outfit? And what's a hollow thing and spirit... Something?... Wait... This chain, all that blood... I'm dead?" I whispered the end almost to myself.

He looked away, a hesitant expression on his face. "I'm sorry. You're so young; you never really got to live."

"Aren't you just a teenager like me?"

"158."

"Haha, now really, how old are you?"

"158." I looked in his eyes again, his expression, those eyes, they told me the truth of his words.

"...What...?" I mumbled.

"What am I?" he asked and I tried to formulate an answer but I could only nod in silence.

"I will have to answer your questions later, for now I must get us back to the soul society."

"Wh-" he cut me off.

"Yes, yes, more questions, I know." said Toshiro.

"Let's just go. By the way... What are we standing on exactly!"

"My spiritual pressure is creating a platform."

"Let's just go..." I repeated.

"Okay, hold on... And try not to throw up. I do hope you have a strong stomach?"

"I do, but why will I need it?" I said uncertain.

"Just hold on." And with that I found myself in the middle of a forest about to keel over. I clamped my eyes shut and hung tightly to Toshiro even though I knew we were stationary.

"You can let go now... Um... You never did tell me your name." he said quietly.

"Okay," I said releasing my grip a little, "My name is Sakura Hanajima."

"Sakura Hanajima, if I put you down now, would you be able to stand?" he asked, concern plain in his voice.

As much as I didn't want to leave his arms, I assumed he must need them to return to this 'Soul Society' so I sighed and said "Okay." and it might've been my imagination but I swear he was as reluctant as I was to let go because I felt a brief squeeze just before he let me go. I could stand up for about ten seconds before I fell to the ground, well, into Toshiro's arms. "Hehe sorry, maybe I should just lie h..."

He was just lowering me onto the grass with his arms around me when our eyes met. We just looked into each other's eyes staring for what seemed like hours, then one of his hands move to my face stroking down my cheek. I shuddered.

"You are beautiful, Cherry Blossom." He said still gazing at me.

"If I asked you to kiss me Toshiro, would you?" I asked in what was barely even a whisper. Instead of talking he just leant down and pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was soft and sweet but over so soon.

"I've... Wanted to do that since the moment I looked into your eyes that first time, Sakura." He murmured

"Kiss me again, Toshiro." I told him. Not waiting for a reply, I pulled him down with the shoulders of that weird white jacket of his. Just before our lips touched he jerked away from me. I let go immediately, wondering what was wrong.

"I don't..." I started.

"Understand?" He finished.

"Yeah."

"You'll understand soon enough, I promise." he said, then he sighed and touched his forehead to my own. "I don't Even know more than your name. Why do I feel..." He didn't know how to finish the sentence. "I'm sorry," He whispered, "But we can't even talk to each other as friends when we leave here. That is, unless you unlock your potential as more than a generic human. Then we may have a chance to get to know each other better. Do you remember how I mentioned that spiritual pressure when you panicked about my zanpakuto?"

"Zanpak-what?" I asked puzzled.

"Sword. But you remember?"

"Yes."

"Well it means you can become a soul reaper, like me. And, if you are powerful enough, maybe, in as little as 20 years, we can exchange words once again. But until you complete training and gain some field experience, once we go to the Seireitei, I can't make the promise we will speak again, maybe ever." Tears just started to pool in my eyes and against my will one spilt over the edge. "Sakura... Sakura, I wish there was something, _anything_ that could keep us together but unless you show exceptional promise, we'll have to wait a long time." He lowered his eyes from mine.

"Why not just train me yourself?" I asked.

"What makes you say that?" His eyes returned to mine in surprise.

"Well you're a Soul Reaper, so can't you?"

"Hmmm actually, you might be onto something, Cherry Blossom." He looked into my eyes and smiled for the first time I'd seen. Then he saw my expression when he said 'Cherry Blossom'. "Sakura? Are you alright?"

"My dad used to call me Cherry Blossom."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" I cut him off.

"My dad left when I was 4. He said that only beautiful girls deserved to be named after such a beautiful flower. He said I would never be a cherry blossom. He and my mom had been fighting and that was the last I saw of him. But he didn't leave me without a parting gift." The last words were filled with venom. I turned and he reluctantly let go of me. Pulling up the bottom of my tank-ini, I revealed a series of raised pink lines wrapping around my torso.

"What did he _do_ to you?" Toshiro gasped.

"Used a power chord."

He stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist covering the scars with his body. I choked back a few tears and snuggled into his chest while he just swayed me a little and stroked my raven hair. I slowly calmed.

"Why can't we stay here? It's safe." I said.

"It's not safe. The only places worse are Hell and Hueco Mundo. You'll soon learn why. But for now we must leave. I'm very late and I must report back to Head Captain Yamamoto. However, one last thing needs doing first before we open the gateway."

"And that is?" I asked, curious.

"A kiss?" He said, with a hint of urgency in his voice. I just grinned at him.

"As long as it's not the last." I said.

"No promises." He said, serious again.

"I know, but I also know that I'll always be waiting for the next kiss too."

"As will I." Then he pressed his lips to mine again, longer than the other kiss but still brief. Or maybe it wasn't brief, but it wasn't long enough for me to be fully satisfied.


	2. Chapter 2

"We have to go now, don't we?" I mumbled into his chest. His skin felt cool to the touch, yet I could feel myself become warmer in his arms. My body tried to reconcile these two conflicting feelings, the cool heat, fire and ice.

"Yes, but I will bring you to Captain Yamamoto rather than leave you at the gateway."

"So you think they will let you look after me?" I perked up at the thought that there was some hope for us in the near future.

"I am one of the 13 Captains. I'm sure they'll at least listen to me," he got lost in thought for a moment, "Can you try to unleash your spiritual pressure at will? We know you can in a panic, but you have to at least have some control over it before we can ever be together. Hmmm... We may need to prepare before I can present you to them."

"But how can I prepare if you leave me here alone?" I said, not even wanting to think of the possibility that he would leave me by myself.

"I will call my lieutenant, Rangiku. I will have her protect you tonight. I'll leave you here with her while I get a few weeks extension on my post in the world of the living."

"Then you'll be back tomorrow?" I asked, not even bothering to hide my pleasure that in less than twenty four hours I'd be back in his arms. They had already become my one safe haven in the small time that we had been together, and that made me uneasy about not being encompassed by his strong frame.

"Maybe even sooner."

I thought about it for a moment when a depressing thought came to mind. It nagged me until I gave in and let it slip through my lips. "Don't rush through this Toshiro. It's really sweet that you're doing this for me but you did _just_ save me."

"I know… but I feel something when I look at you, Sakura. Something I haven't felt before. Something I want to keep feeling." He said, his eyes softening and his arms tightening a little bit.

"I feel it too, but what if you're thinking about this while you're lying in bed and you realise that it's a mistake?" I heard my voice tremble.

"Then I promise you that I will not rest until I am again by your side Ch-…."

"Call me Cherry Blossom if you want. Somehow it sounds right coming from your lips."

He smiled and I was taken aback. It was kind of beautiful, yet seductive and almost surreal. Toshiro didn't strike me as one who smiled on many occasions. He seemed so serious, so calculating all the time. "My Cherry Blossom." Then he turned away from me and called Rangiku. He opened what appeared to be a pair of doorways, and just before he walked though, he turned and raced back to me, kissing me swiftly and whispering "I promise you Sakura, that will not be our last kiss."

I smiled with sad eyes and said "I'll miss you."

"We _will_ be together soon." And then a tall red head popped up between us.

"Captain? What is it? You had a top secret mission to brief me on?" She was very tall which made it a little bit cute when she addressed Toshiro as 'Captain'.

"Yes, Lieutenant. Meet Sakura Hanajima." He said.

"Well well, aren't you cute!" She said, jumping over to give me a hug but squishing and mildly suffocating me with her chest. "What does she have to do with our mission though?" she looked back at Toshiro without letting go of me and I was beginning to suffer from lack of oxygen. I made a few muffled noises and she released me.

"That is for you and Sakura to discuss." He said his gaze turning to me as he said my name. "I need you to protect her tonight or until I return. For now, I must return to the Seireitei." He called out over his shoulder "Promise me you will do everything in your power to protect Sakura. She is important to me."

"_Ooo_kaay, but you and I are _definitely_ having ourselves a chat when you get back." She said.

He sighed and said "Goodbye Cherry Blossom." He locked eyes with me briefly before going through the gateway. The doors closed and he was gone disappearing before my eyes in an instant.

"We have _a lot_ to talk about." Rangiku said throwing her arm on my shoulder.

"Yeah, definitely." I said with a small sigh.

She let go of me and sat down with her back against a tree. I noticed that her outfit was almost identical to Toshiro's so I assumed it must be some kind of uniform. She didn't wear the white haori that Toshiro wore but she did have on the black shihakusho and a bright pink sash. Her sword now lay on the ground beside her.

"Well, it all started about two or three hours ago." And I was immediately cut off.

"What!" she exclaimed," Then how was my Captain melted like butter?"

"That's what you call 'melted'? I would hardly say that, then again I suppose you do know him better than I do. But anyway, it just kind of happened, you know?"

"I see, continue." She said waving it off.

"I was at the beach going for a swim, when something attacked me, a… hollow? I woke up disconnected to my body with this thing," I tugged on the chain connected to me, "Then the hollow tried to eat me or something." Thinking about it sent a shudder down my spine.

"Let me get this straight, a hollow killed your human form to get at your soul?" The way she asked sounded like it was unusual. "The Spiritual Pressure I sense, you are suppressing it?"

"Does that mean that I can release it? Because that's what Toshiro said before." I could see understanding flash through her eyes as she made the length between this and Toshiro's sudden top secret mission. "So that's when Toshiro showed up. He killed it with his zanpakuto and caught me. He calmed me down and when I opened my eyes we just sort of clicked I guess. But then I saw the sword and panicked, which made me unleash my Spiritual Pressure. Toshiro got me under control and I started to ask questions and then it all hit." I murmured the end.

"You realised you were dead?" she clarified.

"Yes. We were silent for a bit and then he began to apologise for me dying, I asked why because he was only my age and then-"

"He told you his true age. You know, people in the soul society don't age very quickly. You will probably still look like a teenager for another 50 years. Cool, huh?" she said with a big grin. I nodded in reply. To be young forever sound pretty cool I guess.

"After that I asked the obvious question about what he was. He didn't tell me because we had to leave the area quickly but I think I have an understanding now." I said that bit so she couldn't interrupt me again but that didn't stop her.

"Did you go on a leisurely stroll, or did he flash step you?"

"Is the flash step really fast and makes you feel woozy?"

"Yup, that's the one."

"So he flash stepped here to the forest. We were standing still but I didn't let go. He asked my name and if I could stand. I didn't exactly want to let go of him but I did anyway. After swaying for a few seconds, I fell and he caught me again. He lay me down on the grass and our eyes met and… and…" I was unsure what I was meant to tell her from here.

"_And?_" she prompted, cautious rather than curious and chatty but i9 felt I could trust here. Toshiro obviously did.

"I said if I asked him to kiss me, would he, but he didn't answer me." Then I blushed. This piqued her interest. I could see she was now engrossed in my tale.

"What _did_ he do?"

"He bent down and kissed me. Then he said he had wanted to do that since the moment he met me." Rangiku's jaw dropped.

"He is normally so quiet and brooding. Not one to express his deepest feelings and desires."

"I noticed. He's very serious."

"That's my Captain alright." She laughed and said "But why has he kept you here instead of taking you with him to the Seireitei?"

"Quick question: what's a Seireitei?

"It's the place where soul reapers are trained and the 13 Court Guard Squads barracks are. You'll learn more about it when you are enrolled in the academy."

"That's the thing –Toshiro is in the Soul Society trying to get an extension on his stay here in this world. He wants to teach me to control my Spiritual Pressure, that way we might have a chance to be together now rather than twenty years or so away and barely be able to speak. Once I have a little control, he wants to ask permission to train me rather than some random instructor. They don't know the motive behind the extension yet."

"Hmmm… well, let's get started then!" She said jumping up and brushing herself off.


End file.
